Insanity
by luluhrh
Summary: Alternative to ending to FMA:B. Percy's nightmares have only gotten worse since Annabeth disappeared. Now Percy's in an insane asylum, trapped in a room with the boy they call "the golden spirit." The boy, about Percy's age, is the most dangerous inmate of the asylum. But. . . is he really crazy? Rated T because people are insane (literally). And Ed swears a lot. Love ya! lulu
1. Chapter 1

**This idea just struck me. Let's see where it leads!**

**Disclaimer:**** . . . No.**

**READ!**

_**Percy**_

It was all wrong here. This place... no, this wasn't where I belonged. I didn't belong in a madhouse like this one.

I've been sent to many different... places. Many boarding schools have suffered through having me as a student. Heck, I even went to military school. Now THAT was an accident to remember...

But an insane asylum? _Really?_

They should have known that I wasn't insane. I had PTSD (still do); that's all. I didn't suffer from schizophrenia, I'm no pyromaniac (like SOMEONE I could mention [Leo]), I don't feel mad urges to strangle innocent people with certain characteristics (unless they're monsters, but then they aren't innocent)... what did I do to deserve this torture?

It was the nightmares, it had to be. Those damn nightmares that wouldn't go away... They used to go away. They used to stay away, dormant, always there but not overpowering. It was different now, though. Now there wasn't someone else keeping them away. Now my mom and stepdad were gone and couldn't comfort me. Now Annabeth wasn't here to keep the fear away.

That point in my thought process was usually where I broke down into screams, shivering and moaning between each great expulsion of breath. Annabeth wasn't there. I would collapse and freeze up or thrash and kick. Whatever I did, it guaranteed damage to something, whether that something be objects around me or the floor or myself or those around me.

... Okay. So maybe thinking I was crazy wasn't that much of a stretch.

Where had Annabeth gone? When did they realize she was gone? Why was she gone? Who had done this? What could I do? How did I even let this happen in the first place? These questions haunted me. I often muttered my answers aloud, losing sense of everything around me. I retreated into my own world, a world where everything could make sense if I searched hard enough. A world where no odd glances affected me. My own little world...

Maybe I really _was_ crazy.

Still... I certainly wasn't as crazy as some of the inmates- oh, sorry, _patients_- here at Herald's Asylum.

There was the old man from Kansas who had lost his leg in a car accident. He'd also jostled his brains a bit and from then on thought he was a war hero (which he was) _from the Trojan War_ (which he wasn't).

There was Mildred Greene, who had somehow, through "perfectly logical reasoning," convinced herself she was a tree and refused to eat and had to be "watered" and hooked up to several IVs all the time.

There was the little boy in the 2nd Ward who tried to kill his own parents because they had "fire for hair and snake eyes." Though I couldn't really blame the kid for that one. I've met my fair share of people with fire hair and snake eyes. I suppose that alone was enough to put me in this place, too, even though I actually wasn't insane for seeing that stuff. One of the hazards of being half Greek god.

This kid was different, though. His parents were redheads with green eyes, both of them. He had blonde hair and brown eyes. He just felt an inexplicable urge to kill people with red hair, or green eyes, or both. Not monsters, just regular people. Completely crazy. That's what he was. Totally insane.

However, even the craziest of the crazies were said to have nothing on the golden spirit from the 15th Ward. The 15th Ward was reserved for the incurable and really awful cases. The golden spirit was said to be the worst of the worst. It was violent, it was terrifying, it was impossible. It was unstoppable... almost. They'd restrained it, but it had taken ten of the burly "doctors" to hold it down so they could keep him from hurting people.

No one knew what "it" looked like. Just that it was gold. Was it a boy? Was it a girl? Was it even human? No one would say anything.

"Just be careful, kiddo," said one employee. "If you're lucky, you'll never lay eyes on it. The Devil, that one is. Nearly pulled my arm off once. We've never even been able to examine the thing. Got it locked up for good."

I tried to take comfort from that. If I was lucky- and that was a really big "if" right there- I would never have to suffer through seeing it. I would never know the terror of witnessing the golden spirit having a fit, thrashing and kicking, wild and feral, worse than any monster I'd ever faced because it was probably human and I wouldn't be able to do anything, not really. Dangerous.

If I was lucky, I'd never see it.

Of course, I'm never lucky.

After a while, I was deemed incurable. I wasn't responding to treatment. If anything, it was getting worse. My nightmares became night terrors. I was moved to the 13th Ward.

After destroying half of the 13th Ward in a fit of terror, I was placed in the 15th Ward. An incurable and awful case, worse than the Trojan hero, the tree lady, the boy who saw some people as monsters and felt the urge to destroy them. They had hope. They might recover. My hope was slowly waning.

When I nearly killed a nurse, thinking she was Gaea, I was locked up. For good. I was just too dangerous.

That first night was agony. The nightmares were even more torturous than usual, as I was restrained by leather bands. I couldn't fight the monsters in my head when I was restrained. I was trapped, slaughtered over and over again by my worst nightmares, all while Annabeth called out to me from the distance.

When I finally found Annabeth, I discovered, to my horror, that her face was a blur. I no longer remembered what she looked like.

I awoke, gasping and sobbing, desperately trying to pull my arms out of the restraints, calling Annabeth's name. My body was drenched in sweat. I was shaking, even as I calmed down.

"You okay?"

I started, looking desperately around to see who had spoken.

"Hey, quit jerking around! I can't free you if you're moving like that!"

I froze. The voice... it was rough, unused, scratchy. Like the owner hadn't spoken properly in a while. A... male voice. Not very old, not very young. Just... a male voice. Pure and simple.

A heard a quick snap, then another, then two more. I was free.

Immediately I sat straight up, jerking my head towards the voice.

I don't know what I was expecting. A doctor? A mad scientist? A ninja? A rescuer? Well, it certainly wasn't what I got.

The boy was about half a foot shorter than me, sturdily built and evidently in shape. He wore a black jacket, tight fitting black leather pants, platform boots, and white gloves.

What really struck me, though, was his hair and eyes. Golden, both of these attributes, like the sun. Even his skin was a light shade of the color. And I was in the 15th Ward. There were only four other occupants of the 15th Ward. None of them could possibly have this golden appearance.

The golden spirit.

He smiled, a strange half smile that looked relatively sane, but there was a look in his eye that I recognized from my own eyes. Cracked, like a broken mirror. The combination smile and cracked eyes made him look... dangerous. There was no other word for it.

The golden spirit held out his left hand. "Nice to meet ya," he said indifferently. "Name's Wraith."

_**End of Chapter 1**_

**. . . Well, that was fun.**

**That was an experiment, people! But. . . I think I'll continue it. Who knows? Maybe it'll become something good.**

**The word of the day is SOMETHING I'M NOT GONNA CHECK RIGHT NOW!**

**Love ya! lulu**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! I'm back!~ (I was never really gone. . . XD)**

**So there is more stuff! Don't you just love stuff? I know I do!**

**. . . Don't ask. I'm in a mood.**

**Do you know what that means?!**

**That's right! It's time for the. . .**

**Disclaimer:**** If I ever get tired of doing that, we'll know the world has ended. ANYWAY! No, none of this genius-ness is mine. If it was, I wouldn't be writing all this fanfiction for y'all!**

**Hey! I'm goin' back to ma Texas phase, y'all! (Sorry to all you Texans out there who are insulted by my idiocy.)**

**So now you may read! ENJOY!**

_**Percy**_

"Wraith?" I asked in astonishment. Wraith, the golden spirit? Wasn't that a little _too_ in character?

Wraith laughed. "Yep. Besides, even if I am lying, which you probably think I am, I won't tell you in front of all those bastards watching us." He gestured towards the corner, to a camera I hadn't even noticed. "They want to know more about me. I'm a complete mystery to them. They have no records of me either." He smirked, and I saw a shadow of my own smile-smirk on his face, like a mirage. "I'm a ghost to them. Thus, the name 'Wraith' seemed fitting."

I nodded, then shook my head in disbelief. It had been, what, six months? At the beginning of my time at the asylum, I'd thought I'd be out in two months, tops. I didn't think I'd be there long enough to even _see_ the golden spirit, much less have a civil, almost normal conversation with it!

_Him,_ I reminded myself. _Wraith. Not just "it" anymore._

I smiled at him. "Well, nice to meet you, Wraith. I'm Percy." I held out my hand to shake his.

Wraith nodded. "Likewise." But he held out his left arm, not his right.

I hesitated, then switched arms, wondering why he couldn't use his right arm. It looked like it worked just fine...

Wraith noticed me looking and shot me a quick glare. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, Percy."

I nodded quickly. He was still legendary for his destructive temper. I knew I could probably take him... but then again, I hadn't practiced in a while. Could I really still take him? Could I still take anyone?

My hand went to my pocket, where Riptide rested in pen form. I gripped it, letting the familiar shape reassure me. At least I wasn't completely alone. Riptide was always with me.

"Oh, so you've got a token, too?" Wraith asked, his previous mood gone. "What, a pen or something?"

I glanced at him in shock. "How did you know?"

Wraith shrugged. "I didn't. I just guessed." Then he rummaged through his own pocket. "Equivalent Exchange, right? I know yours, so you get to know mine."

After another second or too, Wraith stopped rummaging and pulled out... a watch. A silver pocket watch with a strange design. A dog of some sort, surrounded by a hexagonal pattern. Elegantly crafted and polished til it shone, glimmering, brighter than the white walls that surrounded us.

"A watch?" I asked. "Why's a watch so important to you?"

"Why's a pen so important to you?" Wraith countered.

I sighed, then took out Riptide. "It's a gift from my father. One of the few things I got from him."

Wraith nodded. "Interesting." Then he glared at his pocket watch. "This is a reminder of things I never want to forget."

I stared at the boy for a second. The watch was obviously important... so why was he looking at it like it was the cause of all of his suffering?

Wraith gave his head a small shake, then slipped his watch back into his pocket before straightening and turning his gaze on me. "So, want to watch me exercise?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "Little slow on the uptake, eh, Perce?"

_Perce._ As though he'd already known me for years.

"Sometimes," I replied shakily. "Exercise?"

"Yep," Wraith said. "It's not like there's anything else to do, so why not?"

I grinned. Maybe Wraith could teach me a thing or two, help me get back in shape. "Why not indeed."

* * *

><p>First things first: we had to move everything to one side.<p>

"Trust me, it makes it easier," Wraith said as he shoved the bed against the wall with what seemed like no effort.

I managed to get the table next to it, then wiped my brow.

Wraith stared at me. "You seem surprised."

I nodded. "This... I've gotten weak. I'm out of practice."

"Huh. Well, good thing you're roomed with me then, because I am most certainly NOT out of practice," Wraith replied, grinning evilly. His expression made me gulp. This was the dangerous golden spirit I was thinking of sparring with. The golden spirit who apparently practiced daily. I hadn't done any strength or agility exercises in months. I was going to get my ass handed to me.

"Okay, now that that's done, we stretch," Wraith instructed. He then proceeded to lift up his right leg and press it flat against the wall next to him, performing a perfect split while standing up. He reached for his toes, then touched them and stayed there, frozen.

I sighed. I was so not ready for this.

Taking my place beside Wraith, I lifted my own leg. Unsurprisingly, it hurt. A lot. Still, I managed to get into Wraith's position, or at least something somewhat similar to his position. Then I reached for my own toes. More pain, but I reached them. Then I froze as well.

"Breathe," Wraith instructed. I breathed, deeply, evenly, and felt my long-unused muscles relaxing into this position. I used to do normal splits as part of my exercises. This was no different. I was just standing this time.

"Good enough," Wraith said indifferently. I got the feeling that from him, this was high praise. "Now, switch!"

We switched at the same time, and as we did, I heard the unmistakable clank of metal.

I chanced a glance at Wraith. I was almost sure the noise had come from near his leg... but he was completely focused on his task.

I shrugged it off. It was probably just another thing he didn't want to talk about.

When we came out of that stretch, Wraith shot me a sadistic grin. "Now comes the fun part."

I couldn't help it; I groaned. I had the strangest feeling that Wraith's definition of fun was far different from mine.

_**End of Chapter 2**_

**YAY!~ ANOTHER CHAPPIE DONE!**

**Honestly, I've only just started this story but it's already one of my favorites. I can't help it! There just isn't enough good PJOxFMA fanfiction out there. Besides, crazy Edo-chan just. . . gets to me. Of course, we haven't really seen crazy Edo-chan yet. . . or crazy Wraith. But don't worry! You will soon! *evil grin* Veeeeeeeeeery soon, my little nerdlings. . .**

**I'd be great at world domination. All hail Queen Lulu! *audience jumps to attention and salutes because my evil commanding aura is overpowering***

**At ease.**

**Ahem. Anyway. Moving on.**

**So yeah, RFF, peoples! I like reviews! They make me giggle creepily because people are actually reading the stuff I write. . . it's weird. *shrug* Go figure.**

**Yep. That's about it.**

**Love ya! lulu**


	3. Chapter 3

**MORE OF THIS BECAUSE I LOVE IT!**

**The End**

**.**

**.**

**.**

**JUST KIDDING!**

**Disclaimer:**** . . . Go die in a hole. NO, it's not mine!**

**Now, there are words to be looked at! SO LOOK AT 'EM! ABSORB THE WORDS!**

***giggle* I'm such a weirdo.**

_**Percy**_

By the time we finished our practice session, I was totally beat. Wraith was a menace! When he said "sparring," I thought maybe pulling a couple of punches, but NOOO! He goes and starts flipping through the air and launching of the walls! I was already tired out when we started sparring, too. Those exercises were intense.

I was beginning to understand that with Wraith, everything was intense. Everything he felt, he seemed to feel with a depth and determination not seen in other people. It was... powerful. He was powerful.

But he didn't seem insane.

I'd heard the stories. He'd never had a physical, not once in his whole time at the hospital. The doctors tried to take him while he slept, but the minute they touched him, he awoke and attacked. He would scream, "I've got you now, homunculus!" or, "Take that, Envy!"

"Homunculus." I had no idea what it meant, but it sounded stupid. In fact, the whole thing would have been laughable if it weren't for the damage he inflicted.

Doctors and nurses put in the ICU for weeks, months, some even still there to this day. The upper floors of the hospital were often under construction. According to one nice, loose-lipped doctor, the golden spirit broke out of his room once every two months, sometimes even more frequently. But as soon as he was past the gate, he turned around and walked back. Scaled the walls and climbed into his room through the rubble. It was like he was saying, "Don't think you control me. I can leave whenever I want to. I'm _choosing_ to stay in this hellhole."

Well, maybe not those EXACT words, but close enough.

THE POINT was that he hadn't shown any of those symptoms. True, I'd known the guy for all of six, seven hours, but from what I'd heard, he showed symptoms all the time.

Wraith wasn't showing these symptoms. He was exceptionally strong, exceptionally fast, and exceptionally flexible and acrobatic, but he didn't seem crazy. Aside from his weird smiles, that is.

But loads of people had weird smiles! Not all of them were crazy!

Then the was the matter of his aura.

I was good at sensing auras- had been ever since getting out of _there_- and he had a powerful one. Powerful, dangerous, and... different. He had a certain pulsing quality about him, like he was on a different wavelength, like he wasn't fully connected to reality. That was what I felt from him: disconnection. This wasn't his place, his home, his whatever he was from. He was separated. He was... searching for something.

He wasn't trapped, though. His aura was definitely not that of a caged animal. It was the opposite; it held the feeling of having gone everywhere, seen everything, met everyone. He wasn't trapped. If anything, he was freer than the doctors who worked with us. Hell, he was freer than the whole dam (haha, inside joke) country, and this was America! He was... brave, too. Braver than anyone I'd ever met.

He was wise. As wise as Chiron, who'd been around for thousands of years. This boy couldn't be older than eighteen or nineteen, like me, but he was still so wise.

But crazy? Nope. I didn't see it.

That is, not until later.

Wraith was getting ready for bed. He looked down, kind of like he was waiting for something he really didn't want.

"What's up?" I asked nervously.

Wraith glanced up wearily. "Oh, nothing," he said, his gaze drifting downwards once more.

Then, suddenly, as though seized by a sudden urgency, his golden orbs snapped on to my green ones and held them there.

"When you wake up in the middle of the night," he murmured, "whatever you do, don't move. If I see you move, you'll register as a target, as one of _them_. And I don't want that to happen to you. Not to you, not to the doctors, not to anybody." His voice was anxious, like this was something he needed me to understand. Like it was life and death. I should know. I've been in too many life and death situations to count.

"Okay, Wraith," I said, trying to comfort him. "I won't move. I won't even wake up."

Wraith laughed humorlessly. "Oh, you'll wake up. Trust me on that." Then he looked at the floor and said no more.

I didn't really know what to make of that, so I kind of just walked over to my bed and started getting ready, too.

What did he mean by I _will_ wake up? And who was "them"?

Wraith was just full of mysteries.

I sighed as I laid down my head. Maybe I'd figure him out more tomorrow.

* * *

><p>When I opened my eyes, it was 11:59. A minute from 12 o'clock. Immediately I knew what had awoken me. I was facing in his direction, after all, and there was light from the window, from which the moonlight cast an eerie glow on the disturbing scene.<p>

It was Wraith. He was sleeping, but he was moaning and... crying? No, there were no tears, but those sounds that grew louder by the second sounded like sobs. His left arm was shaking, wracked with random spasms. His right arm lay suspiciously still. His right leg kicked out at nothing, but his left leg also remained calm.

Or... no... they were shaking. His right arm and left leg were shaking, barely visible in the dim lighting. And there was a strange rattling, clanking noise issuing from those limbs. Like metal pieces brushing against each other; a faint scraping mixed with the clang I recognized from sparring at camp as steel on steel, only quieter.

Why did his limbs make that noise?

Just then, the clock struck twelve, and Wraith opened his eyes.

"HOMUNCULUS!" he screeched, launching himself out of the bed with inhuman speed. "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU BASTARD?!"

He turned toward me, and I barely held in a gasp.

His eyes... I'd known they were golden the moment I saw them, but they were different now. They burned with some secret intent, glowing in the light of the moon. It was as though there had been a spark in his eyes before that had been fanned into a raging inferno of anger and desperation.

"I will find you, all of you!" Wraith cried. "How dare you even TRY to hurt them! How DARE you try to take Alphonse from me!"

And then he froze. The blazing flames didn't go out, but it was as if they had been captured in their position. He was in the midst of kicking out at some unseen foe.

Then he began to speak, naming names I'd never heard before or simply speaking random words that seemed to have some significance to him.

"Alphonse, Winry, Granny, Mom, Hohenheim the bastard, Colonel Useless, Hawkeye, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Fuery, Armstrong, the Ice General, Rose, Hughes, Gracia, Elycia, Ling, Lan Fan, old man Fu, Greed, Teacher, Mr. Sig, Mason, Barry the Chopper, the Seven Deadly Sins, that bearded bastard..." His eyes narrowed and he continued his movements as though he'd never stopped, the fire in his eyes moving once more. "YOU BEARDED BASTARD! How DARE you use this country for your twisted plans! Don't underestimate humans! YOU AREN'T GOD!"

Then he was frozen once more. And he said some words that surprised me so much I almost- ALMOST- moved. But I remembered his warning and stayed still.

But those words...

"You know, there's an old myth..." he said, tone conversational even as he stood frozen in the midst of his fury, "about a hero who flew on wings made of wax."

I remembered flying on those before the Battle of the Labyrinth, from Daedalus's workshop! Was this the myth of Icarus?

"He thought he could touch the Sun, but when he got too close, his wings melted and he came crashing back down to earth."

Yes... that WAS the myth of Icarus. So... why did he speak as though he personally had had such an experience?

And then:

"Water, 35 liters; carbon, 25 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms; phosphorous, 800 grams; salt, 250 grams; saltpeter, 100 grams; sulfur, 80 grams; fluorine, 7.5 grams; iron, 5 grams; silicon, 3 grams; and trace amounts of fifteen other elements."

What was he saying?

"Equivalent Exchange. Law of Conservation of Mass."

He certainly _sounded_ insane now... but his aura was still the same. Dangerous and different, but definitely not insane.

So... what?

"Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium..."

Wait a second... I'd heard these before somewhere...

"... aluminium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium, scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium..."

I recognized those... was he reciting the periodic table of the elements?

"... manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, gallium, germanium, arsenic, selenium, bromine, krypton, rubidium..."

I wasn't sure, but...

"... strontium, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, molybdenum, technetium, ruthenium..."

Yes! He was! I'd heard many of those before in science class! But...

"... rhodium, palladium, silver, cadmium, indium, tin, antimony, tellurium, iodine, xenon, caesium, barium..."

But to know them on this level was simply ridiculous!

"... barium, barium... what's after barium... is it radium? No, that's going down by groups... is it... lanthanum? Yeah, that's it. Lanthanum..."

Across the wall, a fly buzzed.

In a second, Wraith had flown across the room. The fly was smashed beneath his right fist, which appeared to have created a crater in the wall. What was that thing made out of, anyway?

"Thought you could put one past me, huh, Envy?!" Wraith roared. "You've called me a pipsqueak for the last time! I've got you now, you WORM! NOTHING GETS PAST THE FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!"

The clock hit 12:10.

As though someone had cut the strings of a marionette, Wraith fell. He hit the floor unconscious.

The room was silent.

I didn't get up. I could feel myself shaking in fear.

What in the hell- what in _Tartarus_ was going on here? And who the fuck was the Fullmetal Alchemist?

_**End of Chapter 3**_

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH. . . tension. *evil giggle* How exciting!**

**Personally, I liked writing crazy Wraith. It's interesting. Plus, I liked giving Percy hints that he'll never really understand. . . unless he asks Wraith. And my writer's intuition is telling me that he'll be kind of afraid to do that now.**

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Ha. . . I like this. I like this a lot.**

**The real question, though, is this: did YOU like it, my friendlings? If you did, RFF! If you didn't, RFF anyway!**

**YAY!~ FUN STUFF!**

**Don't do anything I wouldn't do, everybody!**

**Love ya! lulu**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I get the picture, Number Eleven is my OC! Here it is! You better not die on me, you got that?**

**So yeah. More of this loveliness! XD**

**Now, we get to see the. . . ****_interesting_**** interactions between two VERY powerful people. . . *shiver up my spine* Does anyone else get the feeling that something bad is going to happen?**

**Actually, it's different for me. I KNOW something at least SLIGHTLY bad is going to happen because I am the completely insane writer of this story.**

**Disclaimer:**** . . . I hate you all. No, I am not Ricky or Hiromu Arakawa. Honestly. . . you'd think people would understand this by now. DON'T REMIND ME OF MY SHORTCOMINGS! *goes to mope in corner***

**Anywho, here's the stuff!**

_**Percy**_

Wraith. . . Wraith. . . He was a demon. _No, he's not. _He was insane. _No, not that either. _I needed to stay as far away from him as possible. _Or get closer in order to get him to explain what the hell happened at midnight. . ._

I sighed, then stretched out, yawning loudly. I hadn't been able to sleep. Who could possibly sleep after seeing someone act so. . . so. . . well, crazy. But Wraith still wasn't crazy. Those looked like. . . memories.

It was like how Annabeth and I looked during nightmares about. . . _that _place. Frozen, sweating, crying out. But we never get up. We never open our eyes. We are either paralyzed by terror or we lash out in fright, but Wraith was. . . awake? Sleepwalking? Whatever it was, his eyes were open. His terror was so deeply ingrained in him that even his perfectly normal- albeit very clean and white and antiseptic-smelling- surroundings couldn't bring him back to reality.

And what had he been talking about? The periodic table of the elements? The myth of Icarus? Those weird ingredients? The Fullmetal Alchemist? And all of those names. . . they all seemed to be familiar to him, what with how he spoke of them. Everything he said while frozen was something he knew very, very well.

But the fighting. . . that was probably what had intrigued me the most. He was. . . amazing. Almost _too _good.

The last name he said was "that bearded bastard," before he went off on another tangent, yelling about how the bearded bastard couldn't use a country for his plans, how he shouldn't underestimate humans, how he wasn't God. . .

So he fought someone with a beard. How helpful. I just narrowed it down to, oh, I don't know, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE!

I sighed. Then I sighed again at how many sighs Wraith had managed to pull out of me. And I'd only known him for a day!

And a night. But still!

I let out a groan, draping my forearm across my eyes. Why was this bugging me so much? It wasn't any of my business. I just needed to survive this until I somehow got out of this place. Why was I planning on getting mixed up with Wraith's problems? Why did I even care?

Because he was my friend. After one day, the great golden spirit was my friend. And his troubles. . . he had to have seen Hell. Perhaps not as literally as Annabeth and I did, but he had to have encountered some form of it. What else could do that to him? Him, the golden spirit, the craziest inmate in Herald's Asylum who didn't actually feel crazy at all?

I glanced at the pile of limbs on the floor that was Wraith. That couldn't be comfortable. . . but there was no way in hell I was touching him. I didn't want to end up in the ICU. Even if Hades himself threatened to throw me in the Styx, I wouldn't dare take the chance.

Wow, Ed really got me scared. It was probably the fighting last night. . . and his fist print in the wall, the bug guts still glistening black at the center of the crater. His fist had to be really messed up. If it wasn't, I sure as hell didn't want to be hit with it. He could probably take my head clean off my shoulders if he wanted to.

As I was shivering at the thought of my head being _punched_ off my head, Wraith stirred.

I froze. What if he was still in attack mode?

Wraith sat up slowly. Then he yawned.

"Al? Wuzzgoinon?" he mumbled. He blinked a couple of times, focusing his gaze on me. His brows furrowed. "Percy?"

I pushed myself onto my elbows and nodded. "In the flesh. Who's Al?"

Wriath scowled and looked away. "Nobody," he muttered.

"Didn't sound like nobody. Old girlfriend, perhaps?"

"Ew, no way, he's-" Wraith clapped his hands over his mouth furiously.

"Ah! So Al's a boy, huh?"

Wraith growled at me, taking his hand away from his mouth. "It's a wonder I didn't throw you out the window yesterday, chump."

"Who are you calling a chump, shorty?!"

That was a mistake.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SMALLER THAN A CHIMPANZEE FETUS, YOU FREAK-OF-NATURE GORILLA WHO'S TALLER THAN A SKYSCRAPER WITH KING KONG HANGING OFF OF THE TOP?! I'M NOT SHORT, I'M AVERAGE!"

I held up my hands to fend off the aimlessly waving (but still dangerous) fists. "Okay, I'm sorry, you aren't short!"

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU CALL ME SHORT?!" he screeched (though he stopped waving his fists about).

". . ." How the hell do you answer something like that? "Because I wanted to get a rise out of you?"

Wraith scowled. "Two things are wrong with that statement. A: you didn't know calling me. . . not freakishly tall would get a rise out of me. B: you answered my question in the form of a question. You aren't answering honestly. Answer honestly."

I frowned, then sighed in defeat. "Fine, Wraith. You aren't as tall as me, so I called you _short_."

Wraith growled, then sighed and nodded. "Fine, fair enough." Then he glared at me. "But I'm average, you hear? AVERAGE. A-V-E-R-A-G-E."

I nodded meekly.

Wraith was odd. He got mad and started hitting stuff violently because people called him _short_? Talk about a Napoleon complex. He wasn't even that short! I was, in fact, pretty tall. Not _freakishly_ tall, but tall nonetheless. It wasn't weird to meet people shorter than me, but being shorter than me still sent him flying off the handle!

I shook off my confusion and got back to the subject we'd been discussing before. "So anyway, who's Al?"

Wraith glared at me. "It's none of your concern, Percy."

"Come on!" I wheedled.

"No."

"But why not?"

"Because it's my life."

"So?"

"_So _I'd prefer it if you would quit bugging me about it! It's my business, not yours!"

I frowned, then brightened as inspiration struck. I leaned forward so that Wraith's eyes bored straight into mine and allowed a smirk to grace my face. Wraith glared back at me, fully prepared for any strategy I might throw at him.

"Annabeth."

Wraith blinked. "Huh?"

Except this one.

"Annabeth," I repeated. When Wraith still looked confused, I clarified. "When I have nightmares, they're about Annabeth. When you have nightmares, or night terrors, or fits, or whatever the hell you call those things, they involve Al."

Wraith nodded impatiently. "Your point?"

"I'll tell you about Annabeth if you tell me about Al."

Wraith scowled and looked away, muttering something about equivalence. Hadn't he mentioned something like that before? Equivalent. . . equivalent. . . what?

Wraith glanced up at me again before I could come to a conclusion. His expression was dull.

"Honestly, I might tell you. . ." he began. Then his gaze sharpened and the lines of his face hardened. "At least, I would if they weren't watching us all the time," he finished, gesturing towards the room in general. I knew what he was referring to: cameras and listening devices.

I sighed in disappointment. Now the doctors at this damned asylum were getting in the way of a demigod's curiosity? Idiots, all of them. I could stop them from being idiots and listening in. . .

No. Not to mortals. No powers. I might be able to make the systems malfunction by sending water in and destroying the circuits, but that was as far as I was willing to go.

I was about to do just that- gather the water in the air inconspicuously and send it into the machinery- when my seaweed brain made an important connection.

_How DARE you try to take Alphonse from me!_

Al. Alphonse.

"Alphonse?" I asked aloud.

Wraith froze.

_Point to me. I was right for once._

"Let me guess," Wraith said slowly, calmly. "I said it last night while I was fighting them."

I nodded. Wraith sighed.

"Okay, carry on."

It was my turn to stare. "What?"

"You were gonna do something. Carry on. Maybe I'll tell you later.

It was impossible. He couldn't possibly. . . and yet he did. Somehow, he knew what I was going to do. He knew. . . everything.

I needed answers, and I needed them ASAP.

I took a deep breath and felt the familiar tugging sensation in my gut.

I would get my answers no matter what.

**_End of Chapter 4_**

***pointed look* Well? How was it? Up to par? Below standards? Too slow moving? I need this stuff, peeps! Give me ADVICE!**

**Seriously. Please.**

**RFF, mah friendlings! Nerdy geeks, geeky dorks, and dorky nerds, or whatever you are, I want YOU to help me improve this story! Without you the story goes *SPLAT*. When the story goes *SPLAT*, I get sad. When I get sad, I do not update. When I do not update. . . yeah, I don't update.**

**Don't let me not update. REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVORITE!**

***grin* I'll see you all when I see you all! Adios, amigos!**

**Love ya! lulu**


	5. Chapter 5

**So yeah. Stuffs.**

***dodges unidentifiable flying object***

**. . . It hasn't even been that long, guys. . .**

**Anywho, I HAVE BROUGHT FORTH YET ANOTHER CHAPPIE!**

**Yes. Dramatics are fun.**

**It's weird. . . I'm better at being dramatic in writing than I am in normal conversation. *pondering* *shrug* Maybe it's because when I'm writing I have more time to think up awesome one-liners. XD**

**ANYWAY!~**

**This material has been ****disclaimed.**** I never claimed to own it in the first place anyway, but I don't want to go to court over ownership of something I never claimed just because I didn't disclaim it, so I'm disclaiming it here and now.**

**Yeeeeeeeeeeees. . .**

**Read. Read now.**

_**Percy**_

I took a deep breath. I felt that tug in my gut. Water. . . water was near, close, possible to draw to me. Pull it, tug it, find the electronics, fry them, short-circuit _everything_-

A sharp _bzzt_ filled the room. Shortly afterwards, I smelled smoke.

Wraith grinned. "You're good." Then he grabbed my arm and dragged me to the wall. "Now come on!"

"What?" I asked, completely nonplussed. "What are we-"

Wraith dropped me onto the ground. I landed with a _thud_. Then he. . . he. . .

He. . .

He did something that even someone with a pretend-PhD in being weird found very, very strange.

He raised his hands. . . and clapped.

The sharp sound echoed through the room, far louder than it should have been. Then there came a strange sensation, like the energy in the room was gravitating towards one point. . . It was eerie, like Wraith was changing something just by clapping. Energy was willing to obey him because he. . . _clapped_.

He slammed his hands onto the wall.

Immediately, bright blue lights, like miniature bolts of lightning, flashed on- no, _within_- the wall, and it disappeared.

I blinked.

The wall was still gone.

I blinked again.

Still gone.

I closed my eyes and counted to five, then opened them.

Still no wall. . .

Wait. No. I stood up, walked over to where Wraith was standing, and looked out the window.

The wall wasn't gone. It was now a platform, attached to the side of the building.

Wraith smirked. "Pretty cool, huh?"

I nodded in awe. "How did you. . ."

Wraith flicked me on the side of the head playfully. "You aren't the only one with crazy powers, Perce." His smile disappeared as he turned to gaze into the distance. He sighed. "Well, we better get a move on before they come."

I turned to him in surprise. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Wraith shot me a look. "We're escaping, aren't we?"

.

.

.

"WHAT?!"

"You wanted to know about me, but I can't tell you anything here," Wraith explained impatiently. "We have to find a place where we won't be overheard. Therefore we have to escape."

I shook my head frantically. "No, wait. Hang on. This is going way too fast." I glared at him. "We don't have to escape!"

"Of course we do," Wraith deadpanned.

"No we don't!"

"Trust me, we do." He frowned. "We don't want to be caught off guard. It's best to run." His frown morphed into a bittersweet smile. "We don't even have to come back. We could just stay out there, on the run for good."

I reeled backward, shocked. "Wh-what?" I asked in confusion.

Wraith turned to face me, golden eyes dark. "We don't have to come back. We could run far, far away and never return."

The information rode through my brain like stampeding stallions. _Don't have to come back. Run far, far away. Never return. Run away. Escape. Holy shit, he's serious right now. He's really, really serious. . ._

I'd heard that the golden spirit escaped regularly, but right now? And he supposedly always returned. . . Had Wraith changed his mind? Did he want to leave for good now? Or did he always say he would never return, only to come back later when he got bored?

I didn't know what to do, so I said, "Wait. You're serious?"

Wraith nodded, looking exasperated. "Yes. I'm serious. Now, unless you'd prefer I leave you behind. . ."

"No!" I protested quickly. "I'll come. You have me intrigued with your story."

Wraith smirked. "Most people wouldn't escape asylum just to hear a story, you know."

I grinned. "I'm not most people." Then I pointed to the platform. "Besides, you also have the freaky weird magic powers that must be explained."

Wraith frowned. "One, it's not magic. Two, you're one to talk! What was with the water I heard in the walls? I am not the only one with explaining to do, Mr. Water-Telekinesis!"

I tilted my head in confusion. "Telekinesis?"

Wraith face-palmed before muttering, "Let's just get out before they catch us, okay?"

I nodded happily. "Good plan, Wraith. Good plan!"

Wraith looked like he was trying really, really hard not to hit me. He muttered something that was probably not complimentary towards me before pointing to the platform. "On. Now."

I looked at the platform, then at Wraith. He nodded impatiently. I shrugged and hopped on, discovering that it felt just as sturdy as the floor I had just left. Wraith followed me on.

"Hold on tight to me," he ordered. I complied, gripping his coat. He frowned at my handhold, obviously thinking it to be unsatisfactory, but brushed it off and clapped again, directing his hands to the platform.

Immediately, we began traveling down the side of the building at a fast rate. I stared it horror at the encroaching ground before shutting my eyelids so as to avoid seeing my blood and guts spill onto the pavement when we hit bottom, as we so undoubtedly would in only a moment or so-

And the platform stopped. Wraith stepped off, dragging me off as well due to my hand still being entangled in his coat.

He sent my trapped hand an appraising glance. "Hmm," he pondered aloud. "I guess it's a better handhold than I thought."

I ripped my hand out of his coat's claustrophobic (at least to me) grasp and muttered, "Jeez, at least warn me next time, okay?"

Wraith shrugged. "What did you expect me to do, huh?"

"I don't know!" I replied, annoyed. "Just not that!"

Wraith smirked before jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "We don't wanna go that way, seeing as that's where the guards are coming from." He pointed foward. "The doctors are that way, so. . ." Suddenly, the craziest, most terrifying grin I'd ever seen on his face appeared. "I guess we'll have to go under 'em, Perce!"

I had approximately three seconds to process that before he clapped his hands. I had begun to say, "WHAT?!" but was cut off by his hands slamming into the pavement, opening a hole right beneath our feet.

As I fell, screaming like a little girl, only one thought ran through my head. And it wasn't any of that, "Oh my gods he was crazy the entire time!" shit, because he still wasn't crazy. Besides, the thought I did have pushed out all rational thought.

That thought?

_HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA DIE BY HITTING THE MOLTEN CENTER OF THE EARTH!_

_**End of Chapter 5**_

**LOL, Perce. Just. . . LOL.**

**Sorry to burst your bubble, bro, but you aren't going that deep.**

**Percy: . . . Shut up, Lulu.**

**Me: :P Love you, big brother!**

**Percy: *ignoring me***

**Me: . . . Well. Rude much?**

**Anyway, hope you liked it! I certainly enjoyed it. I mean, they're escaping! PRISON BREAK! Or asylum break, if you wanna be accurate. Still, prison break sounds awesomer, so screw accuracy! THEY'RE LEAVING! YAY!**

**The word of the day is BROMIDE! Ooh, chemical compound! Rather fitting for FMA stuff, eh? (No, I didn't plan that. I'm not that good.)**

**I'm listening to Pippin! I just saw the closing day show, and I think I saw my seventh grade teacher's sister on stage because she did something in it! I was just like, "OMG I THINK THAT'S MY TEACHER'S SISTER!" It was pretty awesome!**

**Yeah. RFF!**

**Love ya! lulu**


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